Paper towel dispenser



P 15, 1958 A. s. KRUEGER El'AL 2,830,728

PAPER TOWEL DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Aug. 15', 1956 INVENTORJ62cm: 1 Karma April 1958 A. s. KRUEGER ET AL 2,830,728

PAPER TOWEL DISPENSER Filed Aug. 15, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORSReam: 5. Inez/5652 BY Nae/m9 J. 54. YE

A 7' TOEA/fYS 2,830,728 PAPER TOWEL DISPENSER Archie S. KruegerandNorman J. Slye,Green' Bay, Wis., assignors to Alwin ManufacturingCompany, Green Bay, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application August13. 1956, Serial No. 603,629

4 Claims. (Cl. 211-43 This invention relates to improvements in papertowel dispensers. l

Heretofore there has not been commercially available a' convertibletowel dispenser which could satisfactorily be adapted to dispense morethan one type of folded paper towels. An important feature of' thedevice of the present invention is its adaptability to dispense either-fold towels or so-called interfolded-or multifolded towels. Only onepart of the cabinet need be changed in converting the device arrangedfor use with one type of towel fold to an arrangement for use with theother type of towel fold.

Because of its convertible structure, the device of the presentinvention is particularly well adapted for economical fabrication. Thebasic cabinet has a front towel stack support ledge formed integrallyfrom the lower margin of the front of the cabinet which is turnedrearwardly and thence upwardly and forwardly folded ,upon itself. Therear ledge is fabricated in specifically differently shaped parts whichare interchangeably mounted depending on the type of towel for which thecabinet is intended. For C-folded towels the rear ledge is desirably ata level lower than the front ledge by an amount sufiicient so that thetowels are inclined in the cabinet at substantially the angle shown inthe drawing and with the major portion of their aggregate weightsupported by the front ledge. As thus supported there is relativelylittle towel stack pressure on the downwardly offset rear ledge. Thiseases withdrawal of the lowermost towel through the dispensing slot. Theangle of inclination of the forward ledge is rather critical for bestresults. We have found that an inclination of about 116 to the cabinetfront wall is best. If the angle is increased more than a few degreesthe entire pack will sag rearwardly and jamming may result. If the angleis reduced more than a few degrees, more of the weight of the pack willbe imposed on the rear shelf and it will be difiicult to dispense thesheets without tearing them. To better expose the projecting flap of thelowermost towel, the rear ledge is desirably horizontal and at an angleof incidence with the bottom of the towel stack.

For interfolded towels the rear ledge is forwardly and downwardlyinclined but is disposed at substantially the same level as the frontledge so that the opposed margins of the towels are at substantially thesame level.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be more apparentfrom the following disclosure in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a device embodying the invention andadapted to dispense C-folded towels.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section taken through the device shown inFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view in spaced apart relation of the flangedmounting plate and pan-shaped cover of the cabinet.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the line 4--4of Fig.2.

Ce r 2,830,728

- Fig. 6 is a vertical cross section taken through a device of theinvention adapted to dispense interfolded towels.

The front pan-shaped cover 10 of the cabinet has a front wall 11, sidewalls 12, a top 13 and a bottom indicated generally by referencecharacter 14 and which includes a towel dispensing slot 15. Near thebottom rear corners of side walls 12 the cabinet is providedwith pintlebearing bosses 16 which may be aligned with suitable bearing openings 17near the bottom of shallow flanges 18 of a mounting plate 19. As bestshown in Figs. 4 and 5, bearing studs 23 pivotally connect the frontcover 10 to the plate 19 through the bearing bosses and openingsaforesaid.

Plate 19 is provided with suitable slots generally indicated byreference character 22 on which it may be mounted on the wall. The topmargin of plate 19 is provided with a resilient locking flange 24 whichreleasably engages with the top 13 of cover 10 to hold the cabinetclosed. swung forwardly and downwardly about the pintles 23 to exposethe cabinet interior.

The lower margin of the front 11 of the cover 10 is extended downwardlyand rearwardly at 25, along the lower inclined margins 26 of sides 12,and is thence bent upwardly and rearwardly at 27 to extend at 28substantially parallel to portion 25. The edge of portion 28 may abutfront 11. End tabs 29 may be turned at a right angle to ledge portion 28and are spot-welded at 32 or are otherwise suitably fastened to theinner faces of the sides 12 to secure the front ledge in place. For thereasons aforestated, ledge portion 28 is desirably inclined with respectto front wall 11 at substantially 116. Even a few degrees variation from116 will impair the dispensing function of the device.

To support the 0-fold towel stack indicated diagrammatically byreference character 33 in Fig. 2, a rear ledge 34 may be positioned at alevel materially below front ledge 28 and spaced rearwardly therefromopposite the dispensing slot 15 therebetween. Rear ledge 34 consists ofa substantially horizontal strip portion 35 which may have an upwardlyinclined rear margin 36. The respective ends of strip 35 are providedwith tabs 37 spot-welded or otherwise secured to the side walls 12 asindicated at 38.

Horizontal ledge 35 is spaced sufliciently below the level of frontledge 28 that the 0-fold towels 33 will have an angle of incidence withhorizontal ledge 35 to expose the lowermost towel flap 41 in readinessfor a dispensing operation. To facilitate grasping the flap 41 the ledge35 may be cut away as shown at 42.

For dispensing a stack 43 of interfolded towels as shown in Fig. 6,ledge 34 shown in Figs. 1-5 is replaced by rear ledge 44. No otherchange in the cabinet is necessary and the same reference characters areapplied thereto.

Rear ledge 44 in the embodiment of Fig. 6 comprises a forwardly anddownwardly inclined comparatively elevated portion 45 having end tabs 46desirably fastened to the side walls 12 of the cover 10 by spot welds47. From the forward margin of portion 45 the strip is downwardly formedin a vertical plane at 48 and thence rearwardly at 49 and again upwardlyat 52.

Support portion 45 of ledge 44 is at substantially the same level asfront ledge 28 so that the opposed margins of the respective towels instack 43 are at substantially the same level. The stack sags by gravityover the dispensing slot 15 and the lowermost towel flap 53 projectsdownwardly through the slot 15.

It is readily seen that all that has to be done to con- Patented Apr.15,1958

On release of flange 24 the cover may be.

, 3 vert' the device from one form to another is to interchange ledges34, 44. This interchangeability of rear ledge elements effectssubstantial manufacturing economies. The remaining part of the deviceare identical and in all cases the forward ledge is formed integrallyfrom the lower margin of the cover front which is bent upwardly andforwardly at 28 to provide the front towel stack support as aforesaid.

What is claimed is:

1; A paper towel cabinet including a housing having front, side, top andbottom walls, the bottom wall of said housing comprising a front towelstack support ledge integral with the housing and a separatelyfabricated rear towel stack support ledge fastened to the side walls ofthe housing and spaced rearwardly of said front towel stack supportledge to constitute a dispensing slot therehetween, said separatelyfabricated rear towel stack support ledge interchangeably comprising apart having a substantially horizontal support portion disposed at alevel sufliciently below the front towel stack support ledge that towelsin a stack supported thereon will have an angle of incidence therewithand a part disposed at substantially the same level as the front towelstack support ledge whereby towels and stacks supported thereon willhave their opposed margins at substantially the same level.

epaonas 2. A paper towel cabinet comprising a housing having front,side, top and bottom walls, the bottom wall of the housing comprising afront towel stack support ledge integral with the housing and a reartowel stack support ledge, said front towel stack support ledge beingdisposed at an inclination of substantially 116 with respect to saidfront wall and said. rear towel stack support ledge being offsetmaterially below said front towel stack support ledge.

3. The device of claim 2 in which said rear towel stack support ledgecomprises a substantially horizontal support disposed at alevel.sufficiently below said front towel stack support ledge thattowels in a stack supported thereon will have an angle of incidencetherewith.

4. The device of claim 1 in which the last mentioned rear towel stacksupport ledge part is downwardly and forwardly inclined.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTSKrueger et a1 June 29, 1954

